We preview Saturday’s first match of the 2019 NAB AFL Women’s Under-18 Championships for Vic Country and Vic Metro at Avalon Airport Oval, revealing the team line-ups for that clash and the squads for the curtain-raising under-16 Country vs Metro game.

 

* Watch a live video stream of both the Under-16 (from 12pm) and Under-18 (2pm) Vic Country vs Vic Metro games this Saturday on nableague.com.au.

 

UNDER-18 VIC COUNTRY vs VIC METRO

Saturday June 22, 2pm @ Avalon Airport Oval

 

RECENT HISTORY

Vic Country lost to Vic Metro by 12 points at GMHBA Stadium last year but went undefeated through its three later games in Queensland to finish as the carnival’s top-placed team. Former Geelong Falcons ball-winner Nina Morrison – the subsequent top pick by Geelong at the NAB AFLW Draft – was named the team’s MVP and also shared the Championships MVP award with Metro’s Madison Prespakis. In 2017 – the first year of the carnival being held in its current format – Country won all four of its matches.

Vic Metro defeated Vic Country, Western Australia and the Central Allies at the 2018 Championships but lost to Queensland, with Carlton’s 2019 NAB AFLW Rising Star winner Madison Prespakis (ex-Calder Cannons) taking home the team MVP award and jointly winning the overall carnival MVP award alongside Country’s Nina Morrison. The 2017 Championships saw Metro win two games and lose two – including a 27-point loss at the hands of Country at GMHBA Stadium.

 

 

COACH COMMENTS

WHAT TO EXPECT

Vic Country head coach Aasta O’Connor: “We’ve been training hard over the last five weeks with a big focus on our fundamental skills. We’re looking to play a clean brand of footy that’s fast, hard and attacking but understanding that everything starts in and around the contest. We have a really flexible group with a lot of girls who can play multiple positions; our job is to put them in the position where they’ll shine but also in a role that will suit the team.

“It’s going to be a great contest with Metro, as both teams have some really good players running around. There’ll be nerves, but I think it’ll come down to which team takes their opportunities in front of goal. We see that often in women’s footy – if you can get goals on the board early, the momentum can build from there.”

 

Vic Metro head coach Nathan Burke: “We’ve been working with the girls on a very attacking style of play where they can really take the game on and use their skills when they can. It’s all about showcasing their immense talents and we want to put a game plan in place that allows them to do that.

“We don’t have an overly tall group in general. We have a couple of tall players and some really good medium-sized players, but we do have a lot of smaller, nippy players who watchers can expect to play a big role in the game on Saturday.”

 

THE LEADERS

Aasta O’Connor: “We have some strong leaders that have been involved in the program over the last couple of years. Watching the likes of Millie Brown (Murray Bushrangers), Molly McDonald (Dandenong Stingrays), Sophie Molan (GWV Rebels) and Lucy McEvoy (Geelong Falcons) take ownership of the group and empower each other has been really impressive.

“Molly, for example, is at St Kilda now as a pre-listed AFLW player and the confidence she’s showing at training and her ability to help her teammates has been really impressive. All of them are just very authentic and true to themselves. They’re very inclusive and make sure everybody feels like they have a space to be themselves too. They’ve sort of said: ‘It’s about team over talent’, which is good to hear.”

 

Nathan Burke: “A few of the girls played for Vic Metro last year and have also been in the AFL Women’s Academy. Isabella Grant (Western Jets) is (former Western Bulldogs champion) Chris Grant’s daughter and she’s an outstanding young lady. She’s not your yell-and-scream-type leader but she has a real ability to show that she cares for her teammates, and she’s the type of player that all of them would love playing behind.

“Gabby Newton (Northern Knights) is similar. She’s an outstanding player but also just a wonderful person. All the girls have leadership qualities because they have empathy and mix well with the other girls.”

 

PLAYERS TO WATCH

AO: “There are a few names that spring to mind, like Shanara Notman (Gippsland Power), who didn’t play a lot of NAB League footy this year due to a knee injury. She’s going really well now as a strong-leaping, half-forward who’s tall and athletic. She’s relatively new to the game but has plenty to offer. I think a couple of our bottom-agers will impress a few people too, like Tyanna Smith (Dandenong Stingrays), who’s really clever and plays as an outside running type with plenty of pace, and Darcy Moloney (Geelong Falcons), who has great goal sense and is really clean below her knees.

“Millie Brown will play as our key defender and anchor who helps set everything up, which is a role I personally think she was born to play. Molly McDonald, Sophie Molan and Lucy McEvoy should be important running through the midfield at times.”

 

NB: “Georgia Patrikios (Calder Cannons) will play on a wing and she’s a very smart footballer who finds the ball and uses it extremely well. Nell Morris-Dalton (Northern Knights) will play up forward, and while she’s still learning to play in that role, if you give her enough opportunities she’ll kick a lot of goals.

“We have seven bottom-age players in our squad and one of the standouts would be Ellie McKenzie (Northern Knights). She could play in the midfield or across half-back and half-forward, and I wish I could kick the footy like she does on her left foot. If we can give those bottom-agers a taste of playing at this level before their top-age years, that’s going to help the overall development of girls’ footy.”

 

 

SELECTED TEAMS

UNDER-18 VIC COUNTRY

B:	10. Sophie Locke	22. Millie Brown	30. Daisy Smith
	Murray Bushrangers	Murray Bushrangers	Geelong Falcons
HB:	19. Brooke Vernon	14. Abbey Chapman	15. Isabella Shannon
	Dandenong Stingrays	Geelong Falcons	Dandenong Stingrays
C:	12. Tyanna Smith	23. Lucy McEvoy	13. Molly McDonald
	Dandenong Stingrays	Geelong Falcons	Dandenong Stingrays
HF:	3. Paige Sheppard	27. Shanara Notman	24. Isabella Simmons
	Geelong Falcons	Gippsland Power	GWV Rebels
F:	4. Renee Saulitis	25. Olivia Barber	9. Darcy Moloney
	GWV Rebels	Murray Bushrangers	Geelong Falcons
R:	29. Maggie Caris	11. Brooke Hards	5. Luka Lesosky-Hay
	GWV Rebels	Bendigo Pioneers	Geelong Falcons
Int:
	21. Sophie Molan	1. Elise Vella	28. Georgia Howes
	GWV Rebels	Geelong Falcons	Dandenong Stingrays
	18. Kate Douglass	6. Laura Gardiner	16. Renee Tierney
	Bendigo Pioneers	Geelong Falcons	Geelong Falcons

 

UNDER-18 VIC METRO

B:	2. Felicity Theodore	28. Isabelle Pritchard	14. Laura McClelland
	Calder Cannons	Western Jets	Eastern Ranges
HB:	22. Sarah Hartwig	20. Sarah Sansonetti	12. Alice Burke
	Sandringham Dragons	Northern Knights	Sandringham Dragons
C:	8. Mimi Hill	13. Britney Gutknecht	17. Georgia Patrikios
	Oakleigh Chargers	Northern Knights	Calder Cannons
HF:	26. Gabrielle Newton	29. Cleo Saxon-Jones	24. Isabella Grant
	Northern Knights	Western Jets	Western Jets
F:	15. Alyssa Bannan	23. Nell Morris-Dalton	4. Nicola Xenos
	Northern Knights	Northern Knights	Oakleigh Chargers
R:	27. Molly Denahy Moloney	3. Gemma Lagioia	21. Ellie McKenzie
	Sandringham Dragons	Oakleigh Chargers	Northern Knights
Int:
	19. Marguerite Purcell	5. Elisabeth Georgostathis	34. Jessica Fitzgerald
	Sandringham Dragons	Western Jets	Northern Knights
	10. Alana Barba	18. Emma Horne	9. Bella Eddey
	Calder Cannons	Eastern Ranges	Sandringham Dragons
Emg:
	7. Amelia Van Oosterwijck	6. Madeleine Edwards	25. Tahlia Merrett
	Oakleigh Chargers	Eastern Ranges	Eastern Ranges

 

 

UNDER-16 VIC COUNTRY vs VIC METRO

Saturday June 22, 12pm @ Avalon Airport Oval

 

UNDER-16 VIC COUNTRY

NO.	NAME		DOB	HT	NAB LEAGUE CLUB
1	Tahlia	Meier	19-Oct-03	TBC	GWV Rebels
2	Cassidy	Mailer	02-Feb-04	153	Murray Bushrangers
3	Poppy	Schaap	28-Jul-03	154	Geelong Falcons
4	Grace	Matser	03-Jan-03	186	Gippsland Power
5	Gabbi	Featherston	12-Nov-03	163	Geelong Falcons
7	Jaide	Anthony	20-Nov-03	TBC	Dandenong Stingrays
8	Jemma	Radford	31-Jul-03	167	Dandenong Stingrays
9	Melina	Ciavarella	24-Jan-03	161	GWV Rebels
10	Kate	Tomkins	17-Jun-03	161	GWV Rebels
11	Alannah	Sanderson	19-Sep-03	166	Geelong Falcons
13	Lilli	Condon	25-Nov-03	154	GWV Rebels
14	Tara	Slender	11-Mar-03	174	Bendigo Pioneers
15	Drew	Ryan	11-Apr-03	172	Bendigo Pioneers
16	Macie	Gilmour	03-Jan-03	158	Gippsland Power
17	Holly	Booth	11-Sep-03	169	Gippsland Power
18	Analea	McKee	06-Jul-03	174	Geelong Falcons
19	Ella	Friend	30-Dec-03	172	GWV Rebels
20	Elizabeth	Dowling	31-Jul-03	168	Geelong Falcons
21	Jayda	Richardson	04-Nov-03	175	Bendigo Pioneers
22	Nyakoat	Dojiok	07-Jan-03	180	GWV Rebels
23	Madeline	Marks	26-Feb-03	173	Bendigo Pioneers
25	Tyla	Angwin	24-Jul-03	172	Gippsland Power
26	Keeley	Skepper	15-Mar-04	163	Murray Bushrangers

 

UNDER-16 VIC METRO

NO.	NAME		DOB	HT	NAB LEAGUE CLUB
1	Mia	Papachristos	06-Apr-03	157	Northern Knights
2	Teleah	Smart	02-May-03	160	Northern Knights
3	Ebony	Angelopoulos	26-Nov-03	160	Sandringham Dragons
4	Emelia	Yassir	25-Sep-03	161	Calder Cannons
5	Stephanie	Asciak	18-Sep-03	162	Western Jets
6	Emma	Stuber	10-Jul-03	164	Sandringham Dragons
7	Aurora	Smith	13-Dec-03	163	Murray Bushrangers
8	Alisha	Liddle	30-Sep-03	175	Dandenong Stingrays
9	Matilda	Hardy	24-Apr-03	170	Eastern Ranges
10	Ruby	O'Dwyer	04-Oct-03	170	Eastern Ranges
11	Maykaylah	Appleby	18-Jul-03	170	Northern Knights
12	Eliza	James	01-Oct-03	170	Oakleigh Chargers
13	Stella	Reid	10-Sep-03	170	Oakleigh Chargers
14	Jemima	Woods	28-May-03	170	Western Jets
15	Caitlin	Sargent	22-Dec-03	170	Western Jets
17	Kasey	Lennox	07-Aug-03	174	Calder Cannons
18	Charli	Murphy	26-Nov-03	174	Sandringham Dragons
19	Jessica	Simpson	28-Mar-03	175	Northern Knights
21	Cassy	Wilsmore	28-Mar-03	178	Eastern Ranges
22	Charlie	Rowbottom	22-Jan-03	178	Oakleigh Chargers
23	Peppa	Poultney	05-Apr-03	181	Calder Cannons
24	Neve	Crowley	23-Jun-03	181	Calder Cannons
25	Tahlia	Gillard	12-Dec-03	187	Calder Cannons